*As former A’ Court Justice Adefope-Okojie warns Nigeria crumbling on tribal politics, judiciary in comatose 

Alex Enumah in Abuja 

Former Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; the Emir of Kano, Dr Khalifa Muhammad Sanusi ll; clerics and former justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal have emphasized the need for an efficient justice system in the country.

This is just as Nigerians have been warned that the nation is crumbling under tribal and religious politics.

The eminent Nigerians, who spoke at the presentation of the Fourth Edition of the book ‘Civil Litigation – A Quick Reference Guide to Substantive Law and Procedure’, stressed the impact of speedy dispensation of justice in the economic sociopolitical development of the country, adding that investors hardly go to a country where the justice system is not reliable.

In his remarks, the former VP and Law Professor observed that a consistent problem with the country’s legal system has been, “how to make sure that our cases go quickly through the courts, especially civil cases”. 

Putting into perspective how the country’s legal system is seen outside Nigeria, Osinbajo recalled a Court of Appeal in England saying that to leave a case brought before it “in the hands of Nigerian courts would be catastrophic” since it takes between 20 to 30 years to conclude a civil case in Nigeria.

“I think that aside from the fact that it is a very sad commentary on our judicial system, our administrative justice system, it also shows that we have a human problem that can be solved. It is not a supernatural issue or anything like that. It can be resolved.

“And I think that the effort that we need to put into resolving it is one that we must all address our minds to, which is why I think this book is particularly important,” Osinbajo said..

While commending the author of the book, Justice Oludotun Adefope-Okojie (rtd), for her immense contributions to the development of legal procedures and practice in the country, the former VP challenged other retired judicial officers to also endeavour to put together their rich experiences for the benefit of the judiciary and Nigeria.

“This is the fourth edition of the book, to be a special guest of honour this time, I’m not reviewing the book. But I must say that this book has proved that it is absolutely important for us to keep a good record, not just of the civil procedure, but more perhaps of the ways by which we can speed up our justice system, the ways by which we can improve the efficiency of our civil litigation outcomes,” he said. 

“So I would like to congratulate you again on this landmark, because most people only get to do one edition, perhaps a second edition. But a fourth edition is a tribute to your own dedication, your commitment to legal thoughts, and your commitment to legal practise. And we’re so glad that you are able to do this.”

In his goodwill, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi, commending Adefope-Okojie for bringing on board the fourth edition of the book, relayed how he had personally benefited from the book in his defence in many cases filed against him, on several occasions.

“But you know, for me, I have a copy of this book on my table. Whenever I’m in court, or my lawyers are in court, I make sure I read everything they write, and everything the opposing lawyers write.

“So I’ve learnt a lot about the law by simply reading about my cases. And now I’ve gotten to a point where, with Justice Adefope’s book, I actually go through the book, look for what I think is relevant, take pictures, and send to my lawyers. I’m not a lawyer, but I just send to them and say, this is something you should look at.

“And of course, they smile, nicely and politely. This client is actually doing my job. But I have found that book extremely educative and enlightening,” the Emir stated.

Meanwhile, reflecting on the book and the state of the nation, Justice Adefope-Okojie, who retired from the bench of the Court of Appeal in 2023, upon attaining the compulsory retirement age of 70 years, warned that Nigeria is crumbling under the heavy weight of religious and tribal politics.

“We have not attained our status, the Lord will help us,” she said, “we cannot continue with mediocrity, we cannot, we have the best. What is the problem with letting the best people shine? 

“There has to be a change, the nation is crumbling under politics, the nation is crumbling under religion, the nation is crumbling under tribal politics,” she said.

The retired judicial officer, who noted that a lot of Nigerians are not happy with the way things are going, suggested that if the country does not want to break up then they must merge together.

According to her, “It is offensive to me when I hear this is the position of the north, this is the position of the South-west, this is the position of the east, what is the position of Nigeria, who is thinking of this country?

“There has to be a change. We are not talking of whoever is from, what we want is that this country must attain the status given it by God.”

While warning that the judiciary today “is almost comatose”, she maintained that what is happening can no longer be tolerated because “people have lost interest in the court”.

Justice Adefope-Okojie, who decried the high number of backlog cases, pointed out that: “Nobody is going to come to a country where the judicial system is not working, where disputes take forever to be resolved, nobody is coming there”

According to her, Nigeria is not among the top 10 African countries for investment because of issues like low integrity, speed of adjudication, independence, adherence to human rights, amongst others.

While she challenged judicial officers to replicate the courage, boldness and integrity of past judicial officers, who stood on the side of justice and the people against totalitarian administrations in times past, Adefope-Okojie charged the National Judicial Council (NJC) to always protect judges who are defending the people against the system.

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